Kenya Pledges Stronger Pathways to Higher Education for Pastoralist Learners
Kenya has committed to expanding access to higher education for learners from nomadic and pastoralist communities, with plans to strengthen the National Council for Nomadic Education in Kenya (NACONEK) and develop a dedicated strategy to support transition from alternative basic education to university and technical training.
The commitment was made by the Principal Secretary for Higher Education during a high-level policy dialogue at the International Conference on Nomadic and Alternative Education Approaches (ICNAEA), hosted at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) from November 3–5. The speech was read on her behalf by Dr. Carol Hunja, Secretary, Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Kenya.
The conference was held under the theme “Strengthening Inclusive and Flexible Education Pathways for Nomadic Pastoralists and Marginalized Learners in Africa.”
The PS said Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs), which cover 89 per cent of the country and are home to more than 10 million people, remained underserved in education. Despite their contribution to the country’s economy and livelihoods, learners in some pastoral counties face low completion and transition rates.
The address highlighted Kenya’s constitutional and policy framework supporting the right to education, including Articles 43, 53 and 56 of the Constitution, the Basic Education Act of 2013, and policies on nomadic education and alternative provision of basic education. The PS also cited a High Court ruling that stopped the dissolution of NACONEK, affirming the protection of education rights for marginalized learners.
While government interventions have expanded basic education through mobile learning centres, low-cost boarding schools, school feeding programmes and increased capitation, the PS noted that more needed to be done to connect learners to tertiary education. A learner in a pastoral community, the address said, should be able to progress to qualifications in fields such as animal health, rangeland management and dryland agriculture.
To strengthen these pathways, Kenya has pursued affirmative access measures, flexible learning and recognition of prior learning. These include lower entry thresholds for learners from ASAL counties, targeted support through higher education financing institutions, open and distance learning, and certification of skills acquired through pastoral livelihoods.
The PS called for equitable and sustainable education financing, noting that delivering quality education in mobile and remote communities costs more than in urban settings. Financing, the address stressed, should be linked not only to enrolment but also to retention, completion and transition. Flexible approaches to teaching — including academic calendars aligned with migration patterns, mobile schools, radio lessons and digital learning tools — were also identified as essential.
The PS further indicated that the Kenyan government has pledged to enact the NACONEK Bill within the next three years and deliver an ASAL Higher Education Access and Transition Strategy. The proposed targets include increasing enrolment in flexible and mobile programmes by 20 per cent, reducing dropout in ASAL counties from 45 per cent to below 20 per cent, and raising transition from primary to tertiary education by at least 15 per cent.
The address also called for cross-border cooperation, noting that pastoral communities extend beyond national boundaries. The PS proposed that the four co-hosting universities work towards a joint cross-border pastoralist curriculum, a shared protocol for training teachers in nomadic education, and an open repository of digital learning content in pastoral languages.
The PS urged delegates to ensure that the conference’s outcomes translated into practical change for learners across Africa, so that education pathways beginning in mobile classrooms could lead to meaningful opportunities in higher education and beyond.
The conference was co-hosted by four universities in four African nations: Maryam Abacha American University of Nigeria, Capital University of Somalia, the University of Namibia and CUEA.
At CUEA, the conference was hosted by the Faculty of Education under the leadership of the Dean, Prof. Peter Koros.